Wix. Squarespace. Webflow. GoDaddy. There is a seemingly endless number of providers out there who promise to help you create and host a website, and fast. In this post, we'll take a look at some of the advantages of using these no-code tools to create your website, and potential hidden downsides of relying on them for your business.
Pros of Using Site-Builders
1. Ease of Use
There's no getting around it: site builders like Wix and Squarespace make setting up a website dead simple, especially for non-technical users. If you are just looking to throw up a page for your business, using one of these platforms will have you online in no time. They offer drag-and-drop interfaces and pre-made templates to choose from, so you can find a style that generally applies to your business. You can even see your edits in real time so you know how your site will look as you add content.
2. Speed of Deployment
When you're ready to go live, a website made with a builder will be ready to launch as soon as you've added your content. No need to wait for servers to spin up or DNS changes to propagate. If you are on a tight deadline, they are a great option.
3. Maintenance-Free
Security updates? Backups? Hosting? With most site-builders all these features are included. You won't have to sweat the technical aspects of managing a website, and can apply your focus directly on the content. And if you ever do have a problem, most have dedicated customer support teams ready to help around the clock.
Cons of Using Site-Builders
If you are looking for a simple, quick way to make a page for your business, site-builders are hard to ignore. They have a lot going for them and offer competitive packages and pricing. However, once you look past the glitzy advertising and alleged advantages, there are a number of downsides to going all-in on these platforms.
1. Limited Customization
While most site-builders tout the ease of use of their platforms, and the ability to "edit anything", in reality you are going to be using a pre-made template that thousands of other businesses are using. You can tweak colors, typography, and other styles, but you won't be able to truly make the site your own from the ground up. Templates can't capture the uniqueness of your business or brand the same way a custom-coded website can.
2. Site Performance and SEO Limitations
No-code builders can come with a cost: overly bloated sites with almost incomprehensible code under the hood. While the authoring process is easy, the markup and styling that site-builders spit out is often unoptimized and can increase page-load times and other Core Web Vitals scores—important Google metrics for page speed, interactivity, and visual stability—which drag down your site's page rankings with Google search. When you want to ensure the best performance, custom-coded websites can't be beat.
3. Vendor Lock-In
Maybe you don't care about true customization or getting the best performance; that is fair. For your use-case, those things could genuinely be unnecessary. However, the greatest downside to going with a site-builder is vendor lock-in. Say in the future, your provider decides to increase the cost of your current plan by 50% or more. If you rely on their platform, your only options are to recreate your entire website with another provider, or to pony up and pay whatever the new price may be. With a custom website, the underlying code can be hosted anywhere. If you don't like your current host, you can take all your files, upload them somewhere else, point your domain there, and you're set. There's no lock-in, and no worrying about being beholden to your current host if they suddenly decide to alter the deal.
How Intellux Can Help with a Custom Coded Website
To recap, though site-builders offer a quick way to get started with a new website, they are always going to suffer from the same problems: lack of true customization for your brand, eventual performance bottle-necks, and locking you in to their platform with little recourse when prices go up.
At Intellux, we pride ourselves in our custom coded solutions. We don't rely on vendor-specific platforms, meaning you will retain the freedom to take your website and host it anywhere you please (though we're glad to take care of all the hosting headaches for you). We also tailor-make a website to specifications; your business is unique, so shouldn't your website be, too?
Contact Intellux today to discuss building a custom website that performs better in search rankings and gives your business a unique online presence, or if you just have questions about the whole process (it can be overwhelming!). Get in touch and we'll respond within one business day. We're looking forward to making you the website of your dreams!